The invention relates to a product carry-out apparatus for a vending machine which, at the time of selling, carries a product, delivered downward from a product housing, in a diagonally upward and forward direction to carry out the product to a product take-out port provided at a relatively high position.
The applicant of the invention has already proposed this type of product carry-out apparatus, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 66749/1999. In this product carry-out apparatus, a belt conveyor is applied as an apparatus for conveying a delivered product toward a product take-out port. This belt conveyor is provided below a product housing for housing a large number of products which have been toppled sideways and vertically stacked on top of one another. The belt conveyor comprises: a frame which is extended in a forward and upward inclined state; a conveyor belt which is put and wound on two front and rear rotating shafts rotatably provided respectively on the front and rear ends of the frame and is inclined in a forward and upward direction; a drive mechanism for rotatively driving the conveyor belt through the rotating shafts; and the like. This conveyor belt has a large width according to the width of the product housing, and has, on its surface, a plurality of projections provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the conveyor belt, for supporting the product from behind at the time of carrying the delivered product.
In the above-described product carry-out apparatus provided with a belt conveyor, at the time of selling, a product delivered from the product housing is carried out to a product take-out port as follows. Specifically, the product delivered from the product housing is dropped on the conveyor belt, and is then slightly slid down backward along the conveyor belt. Thereafter, the product is abutted against and supported by one of the projections on the rear side. Upon the rotation of the conveyor belt, the product is carried in a diagonally upward and forward direction, in such a state that the backward movement of the product is stopped by the projection, and is carried out to a product take-out port.
In the above-described product carry-out apparatus, all the projections are protruded at a right angle to the surface of the conveyor belt, that is, in a posture such that the projections are inclined in an upward and backward direction from the surface of the conveyor belt. Therefore, when the product has slid down backward, the product is likely to climb over the projection. For some product, the projection is pushed by the abutted product and is consequently bent backward, and this makes it more easy for the product to climb over the projection. For this reason, in some cases, the delivered product slides down to a projection located behind a projection which should have originally supported the product. In this case, even though the product is delivered from the product housing in its position on the product take-out port side, after the delivery, a lot of time is necessary for carrying out the product, and, in addition, there is a fear of foaming to take place. When the inclination angle, at which the belt conveyor ascends forward, is large, the above problem becomes more significant. Further, in this case, the product cannot be sometimes properly carried in such a state that the product is stopped by the projection. This leads to a fear that a failure of the product to be carried out takes place. Thus, this product carry-out apparatus has room for improvement in the above point.
The invention has been made with a view to solving the above problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the invention to provide a product carry-out apparatus for a vending machine which can quickly and surely carry out a product, which has been delivered downward from a product housing, to a product take-out port provided at a relatively high position.
According to the first feature of the invention, a product carry-out apparatus for a vending machine, adapted for carrying a product, which has been delivered downward from a product housing at the time of selling, in a diagonally upward and forward direction and then carrying out the product to a product take-out port, comprises:
a chute which is provided below the product housing and is inclined in an upward and forward direction;
a pair of left and right drive mechanisms which are provided respectively at left and right both ends of the chute and comprise front and rear sprockets respectively rotatably provided around the front and rear ends of the chute, and each have a chain put and wound on the front and rear sprockets;
a drive source for rotatively driving, at the time of selling, at least one of the front and rear sprockets constituting the pair of drive mechanisms; and
a product pushing rod which is mounted over a portion between the chains respectively in the pair of drive mechanisms and, in addition, at the time of selling, pushes a product, dropped onto the chute, from behind while being moved above the chute along the chute upon the rotation of the chain.
According to this construction, at the time of selling, the product delivered downward from the product housing is dropped on the chute, then slightly slides down in a diagonally downward and backward direction along the chute, and is abutted against and supported by the product pushing rod on the rear side. Upon the drive of the pair of left and right drive mechanisms by means of the drive source, the chains put and wound on the front sprocket and the rear sprocket are rotated in a predetermined direction, and this permits the product pushing rod to be moved along the chute in a diagonally upward and forward direction. As a result, the product, which has been dropped on the chute and supported by the product pushing rod, is moved along the chute in a diagonally upward and forward direction while being pushed from behind by the product pushing rod, and is carried out to the product take-out port. The product pushing rod is mounted over a portion between the chains in the pair of left and right drive mechanisms. That is, both ends of the product pushing rod are mounted respectively on the left and right chains. Therefore, even when the delivered product slides down backward on the chute and is abutted against the product pushing rod, the product pushing rod does not substantially bend. This enables the product to be surely stopped and to be properly supported at the abutted position. As a result, the product can be quickly and surely carried out to a product take-out port provided at a relatively high position.
In this case, preferably, the chute comprises: a forward and upward inclined base; a cushioning member disposed on the upper side of the base; and a chute plate mounted on the base through the cushioning member.
According to this construction, the chute plate, on which the delivered product drops and hits, is mounted on the base through the cushioning member. Therefore, the impact, which the product receives from the chute plate at the time of dropping of the product on the chute plate, can be relaxed through the cushioning member. By virtue of this, the deformation of the product can be prevented, and, in addition, when the product is a carbonated beverage, foaming can be prevented.
In these cases, preferably, the product housing is partitioned into a plurality of product passages which are arranged in the longitudinal direction and each house therein products and each have at its lower end a plurality of delivery ports for delivering a product, and which further comprises rod stop means for stopping, after the completion of selling, the product pushing rod at a predetermined stop position which is above the chute and avoids the plurality of delivery ports.
According to this construction, after the completion of selling, the product pushing rod is stopped by the rod stop means at a predetermined stop position while avoiding a plurality of delivery ports above the chutes, and stands by at the stop position. Therefore, the product delivered from the delivery port at the time of next selling is surely dropped on the chute without hitting against the product pushing rod. This permits the product to be delivered through a product passage located in front of the product pushing rod, and the product, which slides down on the chute, can be surely stopped by the product pushing rod. Further, for example, when the product pushing rod stands by just under the delivery port, the product delivered from the delivery port once hits against the product pushing rod, and then drops on the chute. Therefore, the level of the impact, which the product receives, is large. By contrast, as described above, when the product pushing rod is allowed to stand by at the position other than the delivery port, the impact level can be reduced and, thus, troubles caused by the impact can be reduced.
In this case, preferably, the rod stop means has a stop control switch which, when the product pushing rod has reached a predetermined position, is switchable between ON and OFF to stop the drive source, thereby stopping the product pushing rod at the predetermined stop position.
According to this construction, ON/OFF switching in the stop control switch which, when the product pushing rod has reached a predetermined position, can be switched between ON and OFF to stop the drive source. Therefore, the product pushing rod can be easily and surely stopped at a predetermined stop position. In other words, the product pushing rod can be easily and surely allowed to stand by at a predetermined standby position for next selling.
In these cases, preferably, the product pushing rod comprises a plurality of product pushing rods provided at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the chains, and at least one of the plurality of product pushing rods is stopped at the predetermined stop position.
According to this construction, since the product pushing rod comprises a plurality of product pushing rods, as compared with the case where a product is conveyed and carried out by a single product pushing rod, the carry-out time necessary for the product to be carried out to a product take-out port after the delivery can be shortened. Further, the disposition of the plurality of product pushing rods at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the chain permits at least one of the product pushing rod to be surely allowed to stand by at a predetermined stop position without making the chain one turn.